Robbie Keane has handed the under-pressure Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni a boost before the team's World Cup qualifier in the Faroe Islands on Tuesday. Ireland's leading scorer with 54 goals, missed Friday night's 6-1 drubbing by Germany, after which the nation's patience with the 73-year-old Italian appeared to have worn dangerously thin.

However, having tested his achilles injury in training, the 32-year-old Keane, now plying his trade with Los Angeles Galaxy, was passed fit to travel with the party who flew out to Torshavn for a game that Trapattoni has already admitted is a must-win affair.

The manager has challenged his players to produce a swift response in the Faroes to get their Group C campaign back on track. Anything less than victory over one the qualifying campaign's minnows would heap more pressure on Trapattoni who has been left in little doubt by the fallout from the German debacle that his detractors are growing in both number and volume.

Trapattoni and his players headed out of Dublin determined to put things right at the earliest opportunity after a lacklustre campaign. It began with an unconvincing victory in Kazakhstan last month, which had already set alarm bells ringing for some about the quality of the Ireland team, though the manager was not among the sceptics.

"It was very difficult to recover psychologically after the Euros, but against Kazakhstan, which was not an easy game, and in the friendly against Oman, we had a very important reaction," Trapattoni said. "We need our enthusiasm, mentality, attitude and belief in this situation.

"Against Kazakhstan, we played well, not badly. Have you reviewed the DVD? I have reviewed it many, many times and we deserved to win.

"We are not at the top of the world rankings, but we have slowly, slowly recovered the position in the rankings. We have also changed the players and we have a new generation now."

While the inclusion of Keane has undoubtedly give Trapattoni a lift – though conceding goals was the problem against Germany as much as scoring them – A spokesman for the Football Association of Ireland said: "Following training this morning in Gannon Park, Robbie Keane has been ruled fit to travel with the squad for Tuesday's match against the Faroe Islands."

the news was not all good for the manager when it emerged that Andy Keogh, who scored the Republic's consolation goal against the Germans, would not be fit to face the Faroes after suffering concussion in training.